WHEN Damien Johnson last faced Albion he ended up with a broken jaw - this time it was the Blues captain dishing out the blows.

Johnson scored his first goal for three years to edge Blues back into the top two and, more significantly, surely deal a fatal blow to Albion's automatic promotion hopes.

The Baggies needed a victory but their inability to beat Blues, reduced to 10 men following Julian Gray's dismissal for a professional foul, leaves them struggling to maintain their push for the play-offs.

There are still enough games left for a top-two finish but the reality is that too many clubs stand between them - even if they win every game, it would be a lot to ask for the others to all slip up.

Albion have forgotten how to win games. The football may be pretty at times, the passing may be crisp and incisive but it's of no consolation when the end product is a slow slide down the Championship.

Watching their demise is becoming uncomfortable for Albion's fans - a team with this much quality should not be languishing. Manager Tony Mowbray may not agree, but he and his team need this international break to regroup, especially with fixtures coming up against the league's lesser lights.

Blues, on the other hand, can only throw it away - a top-two finish remains within their control.

Steve Bruce's men deserve great credit for their resilience, especially during the first half when they packed men behind the ball. After the break Bruce's decision to bring on two strikers, after going down to 10 men, gave his side a significant jolt and Albion something to think about.

Mowbray opted for a bold starting line-up. Richard Chaplow was left out completely with Robert Koren returning - the four-man midfield having a strong emphasis on craft rather than grit.

Nathan Ellington was straight back in following his three-match ban, while Kevin Phillips was left on the bench, despite scoring in the week.

Blues made one change. Gray was in for Sebastian Larsson, his first League start since September. DJ Campbell was on the bench in place of Mikael Forssell.

If the pre-match handshake between Paul Robinson and Johnson was an anti-climax - it was the nearest they got to each other throughout the game - then the 45 minutes that followed were even worse.

There was little goalmouth action with neither keeper tested. Too often Albion - flitting between a 4-4-2 and a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation - ran into a mass of Blues defenders in the final third.

The home side's best opportunities came from long range. Ellington's dipping 20-yard shot sailed just over after he had pounced on Martin Taylor's wayward 12th-minute ball. Jason Koumas was equally unfortunate to see his 31st-minute free-kick whistle the wrong side of Colin Doyle's right-hand post.

At the other end, some eight minutes earlier, Rowan Vine had latched on to Taylor's flick-on from Gray's corner, but the ex-Luton man's angled shot flew wide.

Blues were also denied a possible spot-kick when Gray tumbled following a challenge by Paul McShane. Blues should have taken the lead just after the hour. Johnson's low cross was turned in by Vine, only for Dean Kiely's reactions preventing a certain goal. Fabrice Muamba thumped the ball into the net but only after referee Mike Riley had blown for a foul on the keeper.

The Baggies finally broke through the Blues back-line on 64 minutes when Koumas met Jonathan Greening's pass. The Welshman broke through the middle and sent in a low cross for McShane, who raced in front of Gray to side-foot Albion into the lead. Blues' afternoon deteriorated two minutes later when Gray was dismissed as McShane raced on to Koren's long pass.

Bruce went for broke, bringing on Cameron Jerome and Campbell for the final 15 minutes in place of Vine and Taylor.

Koumas wasted a chance 14 minutes from the end when he opted to finish off a quick breakaway himself, after exchanging passes with Sherjill MacDonald, when Diomansy Kamara was better placed and unmarked.

Minutes later Ellington went close to what would have been a match-clinching second but failed to get a clean header to Greening's cross.

Albion's failure to convert their chances was punished four minutes from the end.

Stephen Clemence's shot was headed backwards by Jerome into Johnson's path and the midfielder's sweetly-struck left-foot shot sailed into Kiely's top right-hand corner.